Starting Line 1928 - The Billee Pat Daniels Interview

Starting Line 1928 – The Billee Pat Daniels Interview

Starting Line 1928 is a podcast series
celebrating the early women running pioneers.
Billee Pat Daniels was one of this country’s most significant figures as
both an athlete and coach. She was
heavily influenced by Black athletes and coaches. Billee’s story has many branches, and this
interview is well worth a listen for the special stories of running history
you’ll learn.

The equality women enjoy today in middle
and long distance running wasn’t the case in 1960. Women in the United States
were unable to officially compete at distances greater than 800 meters
throughout the 1960s. Cross-Country
races of 1.5 miles were the exception.
The 1960 U.S. Oympic 800 Meter Track Trials in Abilene, Texas was a
pivotal event in the history of women’s running; serving as the foundation for
all future women distance racing. Billee
won this historic race setting an American record of 2:15.6 and earned a place
on the U.S. team for the Rome Olympics.
She would go on to compete in the 1964 and 1968 Olympics in the Pentathlon.

Here’s a sample of the histoymaking
athletes, coaches, and officials who were part of Billee’s athletic and
coaching career.
Evelyn Ashford
Doris Brown
Allyson Felix
Mihaly Igloi
Judy Shapiro Ikenberry
Frances Kaszubski
Wilma Rudolph
Ed Temple
John Thomas
Willye White
Mal Whitfield

Here’s the link to the interview:

startingline1928.libsyn.com

Starting Line 1928: 13 | Billee Pat Connolly

When 16-year-old Billee Pat Connolly stepped up to the start line of the 800-meter race at the 1960 U.S. women’s Olympic Track and Field Trials, she had no idea she would become a part of history in what has now become known...

Link:startingline1928.libsyn.com/site/13-bi...

Gary Corbitt
Archivist: Theodore Corbitt Institute for
Running History Research
Historian: National Black Marathoners
Association (NBMA)
January 2024